This is the new Engine harness site that Alldredge and Rebstock wear. i have one on order. if you look at the accessories part there are pictures of a self made sliding bar similar to mine.https://shop.ride-engine.com/

mike

Self made isn't a good idea, that tipe of shakle isn't ideal and I prefer CL QR.
I could use a big ring and insert the CL inside?

This is the new Engine harness site that Alldredge and Rebstock wear. i have one on order. if you look at the accessories part there are pictures of a self made sliding bar similar to mine.https://shop.ride-engine.com/

mike

Self made isn't a good idea, that tipe of shakle isn't ideal and I prefer CL QR.
To test I could use a big ring and insert the CL inside?

Here is another one that I made last month. Untested on the water due to a wind drought. It seems to work as planned during garage tests. I have this set up for a seat harness.

I took a typical spreader bar and cut off the ends. I heated up the tube with a propane torch and flared the edge of the tube where the line would slide through to reduce wear . I also sanded and wet sanded the edge of the tube to a smooth finish to reduce line wear.

z flared spreader bar tube.jpg (79.5 KiB) Viewed 2441 times

Then I attached shock cord to the hook with wire ties.

bungee hook.jpg (109.49 KiB) Viewed 2441 times

I removed the harness hooks and added a "D-Ring" to the harness adjustment straps. I decided to tie the line directly to the D ring (less than $2 each) on the static connection. I added the plastic ball (less than $2 each) so the spreader bar tube did not wear on the knot when it slides all the way to the D ring. This is probably not necessary, but, I think it is good practice. I added double layers of shrink tube to finish off the Spectra(less than $5) and shock cord. I find a double layer of shrink tube is much more effective for kite gear.

bungee hook attach.jpg (105.31 KiB) Viewed 2441 times

I chose to use a snap hook at the attach/detach side which was relativity expensive compared to the rest of the setup. I added a red ball to the snap hook release to make it easier to grab with gloves and cold fingers. The snap cord should be tied above the Spectra on both ends. The snaphook also adds a safety feature by allowing me to disconnect and possibly get out of my harness if needed in an emergency.

zz Whichard snaphook 2.jpg (96.82 KiB) Viewed 2441 times

Here is an inexpensive alternative method for attaching the line to the ring after each use and avoid the cost of the snaphook. Just put the yellow ball through the loop.

This hook travel is 50% greater than my DynaBar V7 which was my main goal. It also brings the hook back to center when there is no or little pull from the kite. Also, the hook naturally stays centered and up so unhooking and hooking back in is easy. I decided to go with a Wichard swiveling snaphook (~$58) to connect and dissconnect. It is rated to 2700 lbs which is overkill, however, it was the right size. There was a less expensive version for $32 but it was unrated. It was probably good enough but I chose to stick with the rated snaphook. It kind of took away from the poorman’s sliding hook goal, but, you could easily work around this feature and keep the poor man theme pure. Aside from the cut up spreader bar this set up could be easily done for less than $26 without the snap hook. The spreader bar was an extra one sitting around just begging to be modified so it was free as far as I am concerned. You could pick up a used one for $10 if needed.

On the shackle quick release. I use a Wichard one, used it for 3 yrs in the early days when we used to shackle ourselves in and the last year or so on my sliding bar. They are fine if you keep them clean and use the Chicken loop QR as your primary. If you have a chicken loop that opens i.e a North one, you can just have a ring on the line and put the Chicken loop through that.

boulot wrote:Mystic and Dakine well known brands, they have nice look (I know is not the difference).
I search forum for belt sliding spreadbar and someone say "the belt wears quickly" and
"I have to tight it a lot" . Hook on belt looks more compact but I doubt about sliding. No feedback on this?

About JAY quality looks ok but i found "the frame bent or brake" more feedback?
It is strange so many say "the single most important purchase I ever made " but no kiter use on my spot.

Hi, we know why our customers say that: fixed hook is inheritance from windsurf and who tries a sliding hook says also "I will never go back". Why? Easy walking on the beach Easy body drag Limits ride up of the harness Less back stress Improved upwind Easy toe side Great in the surf Great in snowkiting Improves racing

Compared to other sliding solution DYNABAR is the most advanced one, designed to be used in all the different kite disciplines. Looking at kiter's home made sliding hook I don't know for how long DYNABAR will be leading

After DYNABAR V7 we didn't had a single brake and about frame bend we already explained in another post how we improved the DYNABAR XT 2013 rigidity by adding additional rods. 100gr more weight, 100% more rigid.

would be very interesting to use one of these for snowkiting and landboarding.
maybe even for kitesurfing, though not sure about the water-resistance of those treeclimbing harnesses.

maybe more interesting for race-guys, because it looks as if those harnesses would transfer forces directly to the legs, hence less pressure on the back, less risk of disk-damage (like it happened to gunnar biniash "gmb13" last year)